Is Weight Watchers Making False Claims by Suggesting Their Program Embraces Non Diet Approach?

Is Weight Watchers Making False Claims by Suggesting Their Program Embraces Non Diet Approach?
In my opinion, Weight Watchers is playing games with
people's heads. You've probably seen their new slogans,
"Stop Dieting, Start Living." If you're a woman, like me
who's spent (wasted) years of your life on Weight Watchers
in an attempt to lose weight using their programs, only to
be disappointed in the end and to regain back the weight
you lost following their system, then you will be shocked
and appalled to hear that they have reached a new low in
their marketing. They are claiming that their program is
not a diet, because diets don't work.

Evidently the breaking news that came out in April of 2007
with the UCLA long term composite study claiming diets
don't work has already spread like wildfire. Now thanks to
Traci Mann, a psychology professor at UCLA and lead author
of the study, it is commonly accepted by most people that
diets really and truly don't work. I guess even Weight
Watchers has to agree that it's a fact. After all, now it's
backed up by solid research. You can find more details on
the study in the April 4th issues of American Psychologist,
the journal of the American Psychological Association.

The truth of the matter is that Weight Watchers is still a
diet no matter what they claim to the contrary.

As a former devoted member to Weight Watchers, I want to
scream when I watch their commercials that insult my
intelligence. Like so many women, I was duped into
believing that diets were the holy grail, the answer to all
my problems lay in my inability to lose weight, have more
will power, be more disciplined, just say, "No" , eat less
food and by all means exercise more. So simple right?
Weight Watchers made it all seem so damned simple. Yet it
wasn't. Because they are a diet. They were and they still
are a diet, whether they want to admit or not.

Let's review a bit about dieting and put Weight Watchers
claim under a microscope. Shall we?

* A diet tells you what to eat. Weight Watchers often
hawks products and sells them with the intention of making
money off of your unwillingness or inability to choose food
and prepare it yourself.

* A diet tells you when to eat. A common battle cry of
Weight Watchers is don't let yourself get too hungry. Make
sure that you eat something before you head off to a party
or somewhere else before you'll be faced with too much
temptation.

* A diet tells you how much to eat. All diets have a
limit indicating either a range of calories, points or fat
grams that must not be exceeded over a day or a week's time

* A diet gives you a goal weight and tells you what you
should be weighing. My years at Weight Watchers were spent
hoping and praying that one day I would reach that golden
number that would indicate that I had won the weight loss
game.

* A diet keeps you focused on how much you weigh. Weight
Watchers still wants people to come in to the meetings a
half hour before to weigh in.

If I sound bitter, it's because I am. I'm flippin' mad. How
dare they claim that they are not a diet.

I've spent the last 18 months of my life embracing a true
non diet approach to eating. Sure there have been bumps in
the road because I had so much to learn about how to listen
to my body and undo all the hurt that years of Weight
Watchers and other diets had caused not only to my body but
also my self esteem, my metabolism, my sense of
independence, general health, spirit and well being. In the
long run, diets have caused nothing nothing but pain for me.

Now that I've learned to eat real food and discovered the
importance of handling the stress that pushes me to eat
when I'm not hungry, I can't envision my life ever being
dictated by a diet again. How about you? Are you still
dieting or are you ready for a taste of some real freedom?

----------------------------------------------------
Andrea Amador, CEC, M.NLP is President of The Juicy Woman.
She is devoted to empowering women to love themselves more,
yummy up their lives and lose weight without dieting. If
you're a gal struggling with emotional eating, ready to get
off the diet rollercoaster and stand in your power, then
sign up for Andrea's next free call
http://thejuicywoman.com/orphans/Jan08promo